Venezuela to Macron: ‘Dictatorship’ Accusations Part of ‘Imperialist Obsession’

Venezuela has rejected a statement by the French President Emmanuel Macron in which he labelled the country a “dictatorship”.

“Comments like this are an attack on Venezuelan institutions and seem to form part of the permanent imperialist obsession with attacking our people,” the government said in a communique issued by the Foreign Ministry.

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Macron made the comments at a meeting with ambassadors in Paris. During the talks he referred to the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s administration as “a dictatorship trying to survive at the cost of unprecedented humanitarian distress.”

The Venezuelan government added that the French leader’s statement “constitute(s) a clear interference in the Internal affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”

“The statements by the French Head of State reveal a deep ignorance of the Venezuelan reality, people are in living in peace after the popular election of the sovereign National Constituent Assembly (ANC) and are organizing a new electoral process to elect regional rulers as mandated by the Constitution National, with the participation of all the political factors of the country,” it continued.

"Official statement in rejection of the offensive and interfering statements of the President of France on Venezuela."

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department has accused Maduro of undermining democracy by attemping to try his political opponents for treason.

This is apparently in response the ANC decision on Tuesday to ask the Supreme Court and the Attorney General’s office to investigate those Venezuelan politicians who requested international sanctions against the country.

"This injustice is only the latest in a sustained effort by the Maduro regime to undermine democracy, repress political dissent, and sow fear among its critics," the State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert posted on Twitter.

The people of #Venezuela deserve democracy and a government that respects their rights – we stand with them. @StateDept pic.twitter.com/TgfH1nbNNU

— Heather Nauert (@statedeptspox) August 30, 2017

The United States, imposed new sanctions on Venezuela last week and earlier this month, President Donald Trump said he would not rule out the option of military action against the country,

RELATED: US Sanctions Venezuelan Constituent Assembly Members

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has also placed restrictions on six members of the Constituent Assembly.

Over eight million people voted in the ANC elections last month — marking a turnout of over 41 percent, according to electoral authorities — in a vote that has been described as transparent, with international electoral experts and observers calling for the results to be respected.